What should you do if your in-house legal team is too small to handle multiple issues simultaneously?

In many businesses, especially foreign companies, expanding startups, or fast-growing enterprises, the in-house legal team is often understaffed. Some companies have only one legal executive responsible for all contracts, permits, labor, compliance, and handling daily legal issues. Many businesses don't even have a dedicated legal department, with HR or administrative staff handling basic legal tasks.

In the early stages, this model might work. However, as the number of contracts increases, business expands, or the company begins working with international partners, the volume of legal issues often grows much faster than the existing in-house team can handle.

1. Internal Legal Departments Don't Just Handle Contracts

A common misconception is that businesses think their legal department is only responsible for reviewing contracts. In reality, in-house legal teams often handle many issues simultaneously, such as reviewing commercial terms, assessing payment risks, managing labor, advising on internal operations, supporting compliance, working with government agencies, checking licenses, resolving disputes, and assisting other departments when legal issues arise.

Especially in businesses with foreign involvement, the legal team also has to handle requests related to data, information security, bilingual contracts, investment procedures, or compliance requirements from the parent company abroad. When the number of legal personnel is too small, businesses often experience delays, missed risks, or misprioritizing issues.

Many businesses try to hire more in-house legal staff but still face difficulties due to high personnel costs or the challenge of finding individuals with sufficient experience to handle diverse issues. Not every business needs to build a large legal department from the outset. What businesses often need more is a flexible support mechanism to enable the in-house team to handle work more efficiently when the legal workload suddenly increases.

For example, there are periods when a business needs to process a series of contracts with new partners. At other times, labor disputes, compliance reviews, or investment risk assessments arise simultaneously. These are situations where a small legal team would find it very difficult to handle everything without external support.

2. What risks do businesses face when their legal team is overloaded?

A common problem is that many businesses only realize their legal department is overloaded when actual risks have already arisen.

For example, contracts are signed without thorough review of payment terms or penalty clauses. Some businesses are slow to address labor issues, leading to internal disputes. Other cases experience project delays because permits or legal procedures are not checked in a timely manner.

Furthermore, when the legal team has to handle too many tasks simultaneously, preventative legal issues are often overlooked because everyone prioritizes immediate problems. This is also why many businesses are now shifting to a model that combines in-house legal and external counsel instead of placing all the pressure on a small internal team.

3. Why do many businesses choose a model of ongoing legal consulting?

Currently, many businesses choose to combine their in-house legal team with external legal consulting firms using a legal retainer or ongoing legal consulting model, instead of trying to expand their in-house department too quickly. This model provides businesses with additional in-depth legal support while optimizing operating costs.

In practice, in-house legal teams often have a thorough understanding of operational processes, business structure, and daily issues. Meanwhile, external legal consulting firms can assist with more specialized issues such as reviewing complex contracts, dispute resolution, labor consulting, compliance, investment, or working with government agencies when necessary.

When properly coordinated, businesses can significantly reduce the pressure on their internal legal teams while ensuring that important legal issues are handled correctly and promptly. This is especially crucial for fast-growing businesses with multiple departments generating legal needs or those that frequently work with international partners and clients.

For businesses needing support in building a flexible legal system, reviewing contracts, compliance, investments, or handling legal issues arising from business operations in Vietnam, DEDICA provides regular legal consulting services tailored to the specific needs of each business.

Contact DEDICA Law Firm for expert legal advice!

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